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Hosting a Craft Night (or a Pinterest Party as many like to call them nowadays) is easy and fun!

Here are a few tips and tricks to make your Fall Craft Night a success!

The Food:

Make it easy on yourself and go potluck style! As the host, cook a dish that can serve a large group (we love this tortilla soup recipe). Then ask your guests to bring everything else. You can even offer up ideas such as salad, sides, desserts, etc. Feel like making dessert too? Try our easy Faulkner’s Fallfetti Popcorn recipe which is great to snack on while crafting!

The Drinks:

If you want to go the festive route, we recommend this easy Fall Apple Cider Party Punch that we shared yesterday. However, you can also serve something simple like water and tea. Don’t hesitate to ask guests to bring a bottle of wine.

The Decor:

Keep it simple and stay with your normal fall decor. Don’t have a Fall centerpiece on your table yet? Use our tips and tricks to create one of your own! Also, make sure that you have enough space on your countertops or table to put all of the potluck food. Your counters may look bare before your guests arrive, but trust us, once they are there you will be searching for space to put the delicious dishes.

The Craft:

Here are the things to consider when choosing a craft.

Cost: Since you will be purchasing materials for several crafts, keep this in mind. Choose crafts that you can buy the materials in bulk like ribbon, buttons, etc.

Cleanup: Either choose a craft that does not make a huge mess or provide a small trashcan on the table to put materials.

Tools/Materials Needed: Avoid choosing crafts that require hot glue guns since those tend to be messy. Gluing one thing to a pumpkin is no big deal, however if every single thing needs to be hot glued you will find it to be troublesome. You want the craft to be something you can talk during, instead of something that requires too much attention.

Can your guests take it home right away?: You want to avoid using paints or things that will have to dry.

Two great places to find your craft are here on our blog. You can see our pumpkin ideas right here. Or you can check out our Pinterest Boards dedicated to Pumpkin Ideas and Cool Country Crafts.

Other Things to Consider:

Music sets the mood. Set your iPod or computer to Pandora and crank it up. For Fall, we love the Mumford and Sons or Today’s Country Hits stations.

Before parties, it is always a good idea to turn the thermostat down. All of those extra bodies can cause it to get warm.

There is no argument that pumpkin is a yummy treat. Well, maybe there is an argument but we don’t want to hear it. Did you know though that pumpkin isn’t only delicious, but it is also great for your health and beauty? That’s right! This gourd can make you gorgeous!
Here are a few fun facts about pumpkin:

Pumpkins are rich in nutrients and antioxidants that can help your skin attain a healthy glow.

Do you have sensitive skin? Are you prone to blemishes? Then add pumpkin seeds to your diet! They’re packed with zinc, which has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that may help calm irritated skin from the inside out.

Pumpkin enzymes can soothe and protect your skin.

Pumpkin are chocked-full of vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, which are awesome for your skin.

Want to cash in on the perks of pumpkins? Then follow the simple recipe below to make your own Pumpkin Body Scrub that will leave your skin feeling SO SOFT (plus, it smells SUPER yummy!).

INSTRUCTIONS:
To make this wonderful scrub, simply mix all of the ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Once a week, rub this scrub all over your body in a circular motion while you’re in the shower and rinse with warm water. In order for the benefits to last, make sure you apply a moisturizer after you have rinsed off each scrub. This will not only enhance the benefits of each treatment but will also prolong the effects.

Recently, the lovely people of Cameron’s Home Furnishings invited us to teach a class at their store on decorating with real pumpkins. First things first, if you have never been to their store in downtown Lee’s Summit, go there now! Everything is absolutely beautiful – you could spend hours in there shopping your little heart away!

Anyway, back to the pumpkins! We spent an evening with almost 30 lovely ladies, sharing with them our favorite tips and tricks for using real pumpkins in centerpieces and displays.

Of course, we love our blog readers so much that we just had to share those secrets with you too. Enjoy!

First of all, remember this little poem when it comes to decorating centerpieces:

Base

Think Big

Fill, Line, or Bunch

Tweak to Add a Punch!

Let’s break that down for ya!

Base – Always start out with a base to give yourself a boundaries. This can be a table runner, a piece of fabric, a tray, a basket, a mirror, a tree stump, anything! If you want something a bit more dramatic, choose something that elevates your centerpiece from the table. If you’re looking for something convenient with little kids around, choose a tray or basket that you can easily move.

Think Big – Once you have your base, the next step is to add your biggest items. We usually recommend adding at least three large items that are slightly different heights to create a visual triangle. This is a great place to add your pumpkins or gourds. By the way, pie pumpkins (the middle sized) work great for this. Also, you don’t want any of your items to be over 8″ tall if you are using this on a table. Some people recommend nothing over 1 foot, but that seems to block a lot of people’s views across the table. Remember: You want them to be talking about the centerpiece, not over it!

Fill, Line, or Bunch – Next is the fun part! This is where you start to make your centerpiece come to life. There are three main ways that you can put together a centerpiece. You can fill it (i.e. put a bunch of pumpkins and pine cones into a basket), you can line it (pumpkins and candles in a row), or you can bunch it (create a vignette using pumpkins and decorative items). If you are putting a display together and it just doesn’t seem right, try switching up what you are using. We can usually guarantee that one of these three will work.

Tweak to Add a Punch – This is the step where you look back and see what is needed/missing. Maybe it is color, so you can throw in some bright mini pumpkins. Maybe it needs more texture, so you can add some leaves. Maybe you’re missing height and can throw in a taller lantern. Play around with it and have fun! Remember: You can always add something and remove it. Sometimes you’ll be surprised at how something unusual will make a great impact!

When It Comes to Shopping for Your Centerpiece…

First, know your style. One of the easiest ways to do this is to create a Pinterest Board and see what you pin the most.

Second, know how to pick the right pumpkins (ones that will last). You can find our Pumpkin Picking Tips here!

Third, when it comes to purchasing the other items, we recommend three things:

1. Choose items that you can use year-round. You’ll see that in almost all of the images, several of the items can be used outside of Fall.

2. Invest in versatile items. Pine cones, leaves, scary cloth, etc. can all be used several different ways each fall season.

3. When choosing seasonal items, pick ones that you LOVE! You know that feeling when you open up your bin of decorations and get excited over one of your favorite pieces? That’s what you want for almost everything you own! Right now, Cameron’s has the most adorable Fall and Halloween pieces you’ve ever seen! It’s the kind of stuff that you will love for years and years to come!

Trust us, if you follow these tips you’ll be well on your way to having a centerpiece that is the talk of the table!

These cuties are easy to make! Just string a wire through small pie pumpkin jack-o-lanterns and hang them on iron shephard’s hooks! Ta da! All done!

2. Classic Pumpkin Lantern

This little beauty is another brilliant creation from our amazing Lisa.

To make these, simple pick up a pie pumpkin. Break the stem off (if you need help, wedge a butterknife or screwdriver at the base of the stem)

After the stem is removed, set a glass candle votive on the top of the pumpkin. For extra safety precautions, we advise either gluing the votive to the top or securing it with some kind of heavy-duty tape.)

Light your candle and place a tall lantern over it.

There you have it! A beautiful piece of fall decor for your front porch or table centerpiece!

To make this quick and inexpensive project you’ll need some miniature pumpkins, toothpicks, and tealights/candles.

Start by cutting your mini pumpkin in half. Using a spoon, scrape out all of the seeds and stringy insides. Then, insert toothpicks into the base of your pumpkin, roughly one inch apart. Place tealight/candle inside. Line up the top of your pumpkin with the toothpicks and press gently into place. Hold on to each toothpick (one at a time) and press the top half more firmly into them. Lastly, use a match to light the candle and revel in the glorious glow of your new carousel pumpkins!

Start by hallowing out a small to medium sized pumpkin. Mark your face on the pumpkin before you begin to carve. You’ll want a big section for the mouth since that is where the candle goes. Once you have created a face you like carve that bad boy out! Then, use either a macrame’ plant holder or create your own holder using heavy duty string and metal rings to make a sling. Once you have your pumpkin hung up, place a candle inside, light, and enjoy!

We hope that you are enjoying these fun fall ideas!

Now be sure to stop on by Faulkner’s Pumpkin Farm to pick up your little orange guys. We have them in all shapes and sizes waiting for you to take them home and give them that special creative treatment!